Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen co-screenwriter Roberto Orci has been answering questions on the TFW2005 forums, here are some of the highlights:

About Writing Shia’s hand injury into the Script: “Luckily nothing has to be reshot. Yes, we were on set last week to write it into the movie, not because it’s absolutely necessary, but more because we want to make sure Shia’s hand is protected for the remainder of the shoot…”

On the Leftovers from the First Film: “There were a a couple things we couldn’t do [in Transformers 1 due to] budget, but also because they seemed too “out there” to the studio. Some of those things we get to do in the second movie. After we see it, I’ll point out which.”

Regarding the budget for the sequel: “Yes we do get a bit more dough. Expect an upgrade. And we also know better what we can do this time to maximize the mighty buck. And we have the secret weapon that is Ian Bryce.”

Length of Transformers 2: “Going by the length of the script can be tricky because the action is longer in reality than on the page. We’re trying to keep it to two hours, but I get a feeling it’ll be about the same as movie 1.”

On the Structure of the Sequel: “[Transformers] had 3 plot lines — A boy and his car, soldiers behind enemy lines, and defense policy people — all reacting to Transformers in a somewhat multiple point of view disaster movie paradigm and structure. Part two will be a different paradigm. More like parallel stories.”

Location of the Sequel: “The story for part 2 is more global, for sure.”

Inspirations for Transformers 2: “Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters and Terminator 2.” “We were emulating the style of movie from the old Amblin days, like Back to the Future and Gremlins, which if you watch today are still very funny. Also, the cartoon itself was quite funny. Also, comedy makes things more accessible to a larger audience.” On Michael Bay’s Misinformation Claims: “We knew the names of most, but [Michael Bay] was so upset by leak that he put out a bit of disinformation, even claiming that we, the writers, had no idea which characters we were writing, which as I hope is painfully obvious, is absurd on its face.” On the difference between the first and second films: “The first movie is all about the mystery and reveal of the Transformers as a concept and a species, which means we had to hide them a lot in the first hour. In the second movie, now that everyone believes in the universe, we can jump right into the world of the Transformers.” … “The hardest aspect is that you lose the element of surprise. We got away with a lot in the first movies because for a long time, no one thought it would work, or that it was just a silly cartoon, and simply proving that wrong is all we had to do. The first movie was meant to be somewhat of a mystery. For the sequel, we need an entirely different structure and paradigm for the movie, and we can’t rely on it being the first.”

Themes in the Sequel: “One of the themes is about the responsibilities you face when being away from home — reflected by Sam going to college and by the fact that the Transformers themselves, are of course, far from Cybertron.”

Will the Sequel have any Transformers with Animal Modes like Scorponok? “All signs point to ‘probably.'”

The story of Jonah Hill: “Rumors are not exactly true. He came, he read for a while, and he left. Then days later we had a meeting with him to talk about his concerns, all of which were simple to deal with. He wanted to make sure it wasn’t too close to the character’s he’d been playing, and we told him it would be our pleasure to differentiate him. We all left the meeting smiling and laughing, and his agents and the studio started negotiating. We just couldn’t come up with a mutually satisfactory deal. Sometimes it’s s scheduling conflict, sometimes it’s that an actor only wants to agree to be in one movie at a time… etc. So all I can figure is some one who doesn’t know much saw him leave the read early, and assumed the rest. No hard feelings here.”

On the possibility of Robots with Three Alt Modes: “Two bot modes may be too much for 2. But later, who knows…”

Teaser Trailer: “Teaser will surely come out before the end of the year.”

On the Marketing: “Starting in November, you’ll start seeing the MASSIVE push…”

Film Title: “Alex Kurtzman came up with the title, and it was the only one we put up on the cover of the script.”

He also confirmed the film would be aiming for a PG-13 rating, and would be darker than the first. If you have time, head on over to TFW2005 and ask Orci a question.